


Out of the Dark

by jujus_writing_corner



Series: Whumptober 2019 [7]
Category: Real Person Fiction, Youtube RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Love, Gen, Isolation, Mental Breakdown, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 22:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20937818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujus_writing_corner/pseuds/jujus_writing_corner
Summary: The Jim twins have been thrown in Dark's void as a punishment, but it's the loneliness that's hurting RJ more than anything else.Whumptober Day 7: Isolation





	Out of the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Look, if you're writing whump, and there's twins involved, you gotta split them up. That's just the rules :p
> 
> Enjoy!

Reporter Jim is _alone_.

Not alone, _alone_. Because RJ’s hardly ever by himself, completely by choice. CJ is just as codependent as he is, and the two brothers do everything together…including get into trouble, as they’ve managed to do today.

Is it still today? RJ doesn’t know.

Because he and CJ finally got on Dark’s last nerve and have been tossed in his void for it. But not only have they been thrown into that churning darkness, they’ve been thrown in _alone_. RJ’s spent hours (days?) calling for CJ, but to no avail, to no response but the hum of the void. It reminds RJ of the baseline in a song, but so deep it almost can’t be heard by human ears, subliminal but tangible, naturally unnerving.

RJ can’t remember the last time he was apart from CJ so long, the last time he didn’t know exactly where his baby brother was. He can’t even begin to imagine how CJ’s feeling, how terrified he must be. RJ can’t even imagine his own feelings. He slingshots between fear for his brother and plain _fear,_ because what if Dark keeps him here for weeks? Or months? What if he never lets them go? Worse, what if he lets _one_ of them go? What if it’s already been days, what if CJ’s been let out and RJ’s meant to stay here, apart from him, forever?

It’s hard to keep a grip on time when there’s no light to go by. He can’t even track sleepies like the fans have done before; RJ can’t bring himself to sleep here. He keeps seeing things in the dark, keeps seeing the lightless nothing mold into shapes, into beasts. They’re probably not real, they’re probably just RJ’s eyes drowning in the boredom of constant darkness, but RJ can’t be sure. He can’t risk it. He can’t risk the monsters and demons in the black deep ripping him apart.

He clutches his own arms until his knuckles turn white. His skin aches, itches. He needs CJ. He needs to hug his brother. He needs to know he’s okay. He needs to be okay himself, he needs to get out of here.

He still doesn’t know how long it’s been. But it gets longer every second, doesn’t it? How many seconds has it been since he last thought about that? How many seconds has it been since he last thought about CJ? Not that many. But how many times has he thought about CJ? Very many. It’s cold here. RJ isn’t normally so bothered by the elements, but it’s too cold here. It’s cold like Dark is.

Cold. He’s so cold. Dark’s so cold. Would he really keep RJ here forever? How long has it been? It must be days. RJ’s hungry. His skin is hungry. He wants to hold his brother. He wants to be warm. He wants the dark to stop watching him.

His throat hurts. When did he start screaming?

At some point he closes his eyes. It’s better than seeing things in the dark.

He curls up eventually, holding himself like he wants to hold CJ.

Then eventually, finally, he’s brought back out, but he doesn’t know which way is up anymore, or what day it is. The light is too bright – he doesn’t know how many fingers Dr. Iplier is holding up either. He can’t remember how to talk, and his hands are too cold for sign. He feels like a stone at the bottom of a deep well, one that got stuck in the pail and dragged to the surface. Divers get the bends when they come back to the air too fast, and RJ feels something similar; an aching paralysis keeping him frozen.

After a while, though (he’s given up on trying to guess how long anything takes), he can see through the light correctly again. He’s in a clinic bed, covered by a blanket. Dr. Iplier is with him, sees his eyes start to focus, ruffles his hair.

“There you are, kid,” Dr. Iplier murmurs, “It’s been a few hours since Dark let you guys go, how are you feeling?”

RJ is still numb. Dr. Iplier’s hand in his hair and the blanket over his body feel like static. He’s too overwhelmed with sensation to speak, to move. Someone comes into the room, RJ hears it (his ears grew sharp in the dark to hear the whispers).

“Bim–” Dr. Iplier sighs. “Why’d you bring him in here? RJ’s still not well.”

Bim is standing in the doorway, with CJ, CJ (oh god it’s _CJ)_, CJ wrapped around Bim’s upper body in a tangle of long limbs. His legs are around Bim’s waist, his arms cling around his shoulders, his head is buried in Bim’s neck. Bim is holding him in return, arms securing CJ to his chest, one hand smoothing his hair. His expression is sad, bloodshot eyes that have cried too much recently, but resolute.

“I know RJ’s not well,” Bim says in response to Dr. Iplier, “He needs CJ. They need each other.”

The only things RJ can feel are the heaviness of his own skin, and the ache like hunger pains that runs over it.

“Yes, but _eventually,_” Dr. Iplier tells him. “If we put them back together too soon they’ll retraumatize each other. RJ still won’t move or talk; it’ll scare CJ, and then that’ll scare RJ, and they’ll both be worse off.”

“Doc, RJ’s not gonna _get_ better until he sees CJ. I know these two, I know them better than you do.” Bim’s eyes begin to shine with wetness. “CJ keeps asking for RJ. He cries every time I tell him “not yet.” They can’t survive like this, they need to be together.”

Dr. Iplier and Bim stare at each other. Dr. Iplier is stern, chewing his lip in thought, and Bim is near tears but determined. RJ watches, still too numb to react to anything. He barely feels real, the world barely feels real. Dr. Iplier sighs again.

“Fine,” he relents, sighing. “We’ll try it, but if something goes wrong, we’re following my instruction from now on.”

Bim nods, a watery grin spreading across his face. He looks down at CJ.

“Hear that, bud?” he murmurs to him, “It’s time to see RJ.”

CJ jolts in Bim’s arms as Bim carries him to RJ’s bed. Dr. Iplier moves out of the way so Bim can set CJ down in front of him. CJ’s eyes are bloodshot like Bim’s, and already wet with fresh tears. He surges forward and hugs RJ tight, head in his shoulder, hands clinging at his back.

For a long moment, RJ is still. His body begins to register what’s happening, the gears in his mind start to turn. The numbness, slowly, begins to recede. Then CJ’s trembling hands let go of RJ’s shirt to trace letters into his back, over and over, _RJ, RJ, RJ._

Just like that, the dam bursts. RJ’s locked body opens up, the numbness falls away like shed skin. He feels CJ’s warmth, feels the solid weight in his lap, feels the tracing of his own name from CJ’s long fingers. He starts to whimper, then sob, then he’s wailing, hugging CJ back, clutching him so hard he’s afraid he’s hurting him but he can’t make himself stop.

“CJ, CJ, my brother,” RJ sobs, “I love you, I missed you, I love you…”

CJ nods into his neck as a reply. _I love you too brother, I missed you too._

CJ doesn’t object to being crushed in RJ’s hug, hugging him just as tight in response. They cry, rocking against each other, and RJ finally feels okay again, finally feels normal. His time in the void doesn’t matter anymore, he’s home, home is holding him, and home is in his arms.

“Told you,” Bim tells Dr. Iplier. His voice is wet.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dr. Iplier brushes him off, but his tone is light.

RJ feels Bim brush back his hair and kiss the top of his head, and though he can’t see for tears, he imagines Bim does the same to CJ next.

“Don’t either of you make Dark that mad ever again, you hear me?” Bim demands, though the words are undercut by his soft, weepy tone. The pair look up at him and nod anyway, and Bim kisses them on each cheek, one at a time.

RJ’s first smile in days happens then, as Bim kisses his cheeks, and it lights him up inside, the warmth chasing away the memories of the dark.


End file.
